BS: Jail for one kiss?

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 08:35 PM

It just occurred to me that a female arsonist is an arsonistess.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 08:34 PM

Good one, Indria.

Just today I was contemplating the term 'millionairess' and thinking I'd never heard 'billionairess'. In today's inflated market it's bound to happen.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: GUEST,Indria
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 08:12 PM

So Paris Hilton goes to jail while Richard Gere goes free - where's the justice in that?

I am deeply shocked that in America a young Millionairess can be sent to prison for DUI - does wealth count for nothing these days?

Richard Gere grossly offended 400 million poor Indians and walks free because he is a Millionaire movie star and Indians are very poor, while poor Paris is a Millionairess and has offended other wealthy people (all Americans are very rich)and is martyred by being sent to jail:- two rights don't make a wrong in America!

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: GUEST
Date: 22 May 07 - 06:47 PM

Everything is illegal in "parts of the Sub-Continent". For instance, gay weddings are not allowed in the Punjab.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: GUEST,Indria
Date: 22 May 07 - 03:58 PM

In parts of the subcontinent it is a serious crime to have carnal knowledge of domestic animals and beasts of the air!

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Wolfgang
Date: 22 May 07 - 08:08 AM

Pakistan's Tourism Minister Nilofer Bakhtiar has quit after weeks of controversy surrounding a photo of her hugging her French paragliding instructor.

She had a fatwa against her for an embrace.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Wordsmith
Date: 22 May 07 - 05:00 AM

I understand that the judge who issued the warrant has been sent to a place far, far, away. Guess we should leave it up to India to decide...is that what the majority is saying. Well, I guess they have done so.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Big Mick
Date: 20 May 07 - 04:13 PM

Peter, I want to make sure I understand. You are saying that folks have every right to comment on issues in other countries, correct?

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 20 May 07 - 03:13 PM

Poor comparison.You are not obligated to like or approve of another culture's customs. You are also not obligated to tell them what you think of their customs.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 19 May 07 - 09:03 PM

But why are our opinions on other people's customs irrelevant Kendall? You might as well say "their country right or wrong" which is no more acceptable to me than the usual phrase. Are we not entitled to challenge customs that we don't like, whether they're the custom in our country or womeone else's?

Another custom among small minorities of Hindus has been the practice of sati, in which women immolate themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands. (It still happens occasionally.) I regard that as barbaric and would do so even if it was a sacred custom of every religion in the world.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 19 May 07 - 07:30 AM

People always dwell on how many come here to have a better life in the greatest country on earth. They never mention those who DON'T want to come here, and they outnumber those who do.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 18 May 07 - 09:33 PM

Kendall and Giok - right on............I think for some Americans (not all by far) it is diffiicult to comprehend that someone wouldn't want to live a 'Better, Fuller, AMERICAN way of life.....' -- talk to the people who live in countries with National Health and ask them how they feel.....

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 18 May 07 - 07:53 AM

Tell that to the Iraqis, to whom democracy is an alien concept, yet we are intent on foisting it on them. Or the millions in Africa who were converted, often under duress, or with promise of material rewards, to convert to Christianity.
This is all done under the guise of improving their lot, but only according to our values.
It was then and is now based on our opinion of the barbarity of their customs, and the rightness of ours.
If we kept our noses out of other people's business, both their and our lives might be a lot better, and less confrontational !
As an added benefit, there would be fewer graveyards.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 18 May 07 - 07:32 AM

He was out of line. Our opinion on their customs are irrelevent.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 17 May 07 - 09:43 PM

Giok's right, Kendall's wrong and MG obviously needs to get a life. According to Hindustanis I know, who read the Mumbai newspapers, most of India is appalled and embarrassed that such a fuss has been stirred up by a few religous sealots.

As for references to the Kama Sutra (including one made much higher in the thread Big Mick) Shetty made that point herself, at the time, in response to the furore. And there's the basic problem for MG: if this was a crime, where's the victim?

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 May 07 - 09:22 PM

Yeah. I remember when Elvis leaned over a girl in a diner and took a bite out of her burger. She filed charges.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Sorcha
Date: 17 May 07 - 09:10 PM

Uh, maybe more prone? Given the 'liscense' they seem to expect?

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 May 07 - 08:07 PM

To me, it didn't seem like practically forcing her to the ground or wrestling her to the ground - it was more like he expected her to do a deep dip and instead it surprised her enough that the whole thing was awkward, even ungainly.

I think he was out of line, but he did make it clear at the end that he was paying homage to her.

It appeared to me that after they exited the stage she was saying something to him on the order of 'You surprised me!'

Except for it being in a country not his own, it reminded me a good deal of when that actor - who was it? - grabbed Halle Berry after she won the Oscar and gave her a heavy kiss. That too was out of line.

It appears that show biz people are as prone to gaffes as anyone else.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Sorcha
Date: 17 May 07 - 06:21 PM

Well, he didn't get stoned to death.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Stringsinger
Date: 17 May 07 - 05:28 PM

It was more like a pecker on the cheek.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: GUEST,Thammim
Date: 16 May 07 - 08:54 PM

Other important news on channels ' Watch it out

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 01 May 07 - 07:41 AM

It does indeed look like she enjoyed it. However, that is not the issue here. What they did was a violation of the law in India, and she does not have the authority to say it's ok.
It's like statutory rape in this country, no minor girl can legally give permission for a guy to break the law. Laws must apply to everyone.
He was still out of line.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Wordsmith
Date: 01 May 07 - 05:32 AM

http://hubpages.com/hub/ShilpaShetty-RichardGere_Kiss

"Of this we can agree,
A kiss is just a kiss..."

Looked like she liked it to me.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: HuwG
Date: 01 May 07 - 04:56 AM

It might be thought repressive to threaten Richard Gere with clink for an unwelcome or inappropriate kiss. I'll credit the Indians with at least not stoning Miss Shetty to death for her apparent dishonour in allowing it to happen.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 05:37 PM

Men mature after they have exhausted all other options.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 03:13 PM

Do you just get to grab a woman like that (it did not look voluntary, and it is a different situation if it was voluntary, planned, etc.) and Tango anywhere, even Argentina? If I was in Argentina, even if I was in a Tango festival, I would not want a man just grabbing me and throwing me to the ground like that in the name of "Tango." Now, I assume he meant well, and part of it was he seemed to have caught her off balance, but still....only cave men and perhaps Huns got to grab women like that...mg

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 02:59 PM

Grab, you still don't get it! The Tango is perfectly acceptable in Argentine, what Gere did is NOT acceptable in India! You sound like one of those people who think they have the right to do just as they damn well please no matter where they are.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Big Mick
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 12:24 PM

I've been wanting to say that since this thread started, Giok. LOL.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 12:22 PM

What country was the Khama Sutra written in?

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Grab
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 12:18 PM

If I'd been asked to do a tango demonstration for a charity event (of which the chances are vanishingly low :-) and some nutter told me to stop because dancing like that was lewd and offensive, they can stick it up their arse, good ol' boys or not.

I hope that you're misrepresenting the general attitude of Richmond, Maine. More likely, I hope, some nutter picketing a demonstration of tango would be subjected to public ridicule. If that's not the case, we can all thank you for the warning and avoid the place.

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 12:17 PM

Greer looked like a pig with bad breathe trying to molest the woman.
It was nothing you wouldn't see at an American trailor park wedding reception however.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 11:24 AM

What goes in Argentina, and what does not go in India are two very different things.

I can't imagine a worse Ambassador at large than a friggin' actor. Unless it's a political hack who bought the Ambassador's office. Isn't that where the term, "Ugly American" came from?

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 09:39 AM

Graham-

Anytime you want to visit our town and holler "if Richmond, Maine is far enough up its own ass that close dancing is a jail offence..." you are more than welcome to do that. But the police are unlikely to trouble you. More likely it's the Public Works Department that will pick you up and re-deposit you in the Town Landfill, assuming that the "good ol' boys" don't get to you first.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Grimmy
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 09:27 AM

HG Wells once said "Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo"

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 07:43 AM

GBS it was I think who described dancing as "The vertical expression of a horizontal desire"
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Grab
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 07:36 AM

Ye gods, has the entire world not heard of Latin dance?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tango_(dance)

In particular, check the two pictures further down. Yes, Shetty is off balance and doesn't seem to be doing it well. But if you notice, she's also holding a microphone, which doesn't exactly help.

Yesh, all those dirty, filthy perverts who dance tango - or any other close dance that might imply intimacy between the participants. Lock them up!

Charley and MG, if Richmond, Maine is far enough up its own ass that close dancing is a jail offence, I thank whatever gods there are that I'm living somewhere that's out of the Middle Ages. Sounds like the only difference between Iran and Richmond, Maine is the language.

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 03:37 AM

It was illegal to kiss in public in Spain not so long ago, that has now changed.
It was repressive then in Spain, and it's equally repressive now in India, but that's what religion is all about repression and conformity.
Giok.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Greg B
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 09:19 PM

"If such an act were performed on the main street of Richmond, Maine, the police would have hauled off the couple to the lock-up."

...unless of course they'd spent more than $2000.00 in the local tourist trade, then they'd have given them a room upgrade and a box of Trojans
courtesy of the local chemist, with a special inscription which
read 'Rhde' until in use, then transformed to read 'Richmond, Me' along
with a coupon for a free lobster dinner.

(I call BS)

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 08:47 PM

mg-

I agree with you. If such an act were performed on the main street of Richmond, Maine, the police would have hauled off the couple to the lock-up. Of course they would have assumed they were a "couple" and just being a public nuisance. They would not have focused on Gree unless the lady in question was under 17 in age, and she's probably older than 20.

But in the context of a special event in India, the interaction is explosive, and stupid. Gree should know better, and his apologies may not be sufficient to erase the bad impression he has created. God, why do we let actors roam the world?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: mg
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 04:09 PM

but this particular thing would not have been acceptable in part of US or UK that I have been in...mg

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 12:24 PM

I don't care whether Shilpa likes RG of not, I wish she liked me.

Kendall's got it dead right - what's acceptable in the US and the UK is often not acceptable in other countries, and we should all ('celebrities' also, and in particular because they're perceived as 'representing' their own nation) respect the cultures of others, just as we would wish them to respect ours.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 08:29 AM

He's an actor! What can you expect?
Let's hope he doesn't run for president, he might make it.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 01:05 AM

The rule in our house is the basic rule for any successful movie is not to have Richard Gere in it -- he's a lightweight and he can't act..........; and as Kendall points out, has no sensitivity about what is acceptable in different cultures. I had read news reports but just saw the photo today -- for someone who professes to be in sync with Indian/Pakistanti culture, one can only say -- what an idiot!

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 08:09 PM

More to the point: did this Shilpa Shetty ever like him anyway?

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 07:44 PM

I never liked him anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: GUEST,Indria
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 05:13 PM

Jarosic, Jarosic - it was not permitted to show a MAN and a WOMAN in bed together. It was all right to show two men or two ladies in bed together at the same time. Hollywood was built on homosexuality - many fine actors are now or ever have been members of the Greek Club.

But your big mistake is thinking that our custom of reporting trivia as news is entertaining - it is not. We, in the West, try to make up as much news as possible. 24 hour news does not happen by itself you know - it must be assisted or invented to keep the populace entertained. Mr Richard Gere has a duty to be offensive to Ms Shetty (not Shitty as you say, but don't worry I myself made the same mistake with Gandhi) it was for the sake of news. He made people sit up and think about AIDS and how best to transmit it. He should have worn a condom!

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: GUEST,Jarosic
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 04:19 PM

kendal: "I remember when the movies could not show two people in the same bed!"

Surely you are making the mistake. In my country we often see Mr Laurel and his chum Mr Hardy in bed same bed too much. These are very funny men.

Was Mr Gere in the same bed as another in cinema? I am sorry for my early mistake about Ms Shitty. Were they in bed when this deed took place in the movie? I have not seen this yet, in my land. Our news has still not become family entertainment yet, but we are hoping gladly that some day too soon it will be the same as yours.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: Greg B
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 02:35 PM

Well, at least there was no gerbil involved :-)

But:

"I'm coming to a new realization of how much sexism still permeates our culture - whether it's the Senate Majority Leader who thinks nothing of an arm around the shoulder of the female Speaker of the House, or the US President who gives the German Chancellor an uninvited shoulder rub. The Gere incident is no different. Are these really our models of public decorum, respect and equality?"

Our role models? Of course not. This President doesn't believe a woman
should control whether or not her womb continues to be occupied,
so why should we look to him as an egalitarian role model? As for
the Senate Majority leader, it is the upper house, after all :-)
Then again, why should we look to a Hollywood hunk to be a role
model for for gender equality and decorum? I don't recall him
volunteering for that role.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: kendall
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 07:47 AM

He was way out of line.
When will we ever get a clue that we have no right to decide what is or is not proper in another culture?

For instance, in this country, it is quite acceptable to show two men (or even two women) beating each other to a pulp, with the express purpose of hurting the other in the prize ring, yet, it is not proper to show people displaying affection.

I remember when the movies could not show two people in the same bed!

WE decide what is proper for US. THEY decide what is proper to THEM. Our arrogance continues to make enemies, and we still don't wake up.

Subject: RE: BS: Jail for one kiss?
From: mg
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 07:22 AM

was it voluntary? Did she know about it? What I saw did not look like fun. mg